The Hospital Celtics Walking Into Houston And Going Full Belt To Ass While On Short Rest Was One Of The Most Impressive Performances Of The Entire NBA Season

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It was just yesterday following the win over the Mavs that I talked about how that win was another case of the Celts elite championship mindset. That despite all the chaos going on with the trade deadline, the emotional toll I'm sure it took to see Anfernee Simons get traded earlier in the day, they came out and found a way to win.

In that blog, I talked about how the next night when the Celts would be on a B2B against the Rockets, it would be yet another test of this group's mental toughness. Then we learned that Jaylen Brown and Sam Hauser would not be playing, while the Celts are also without Nikola Vucevic since that trade is not official yet. That meant a team with no Jayson Tatum, no Jaylen Brown, no Sam Hauser, and no Nikola Vucevic was going to head into HOU on the second night of a B2B to face a contender in the Rockets who just so happened to be getting KD back for this game.

Look at what happened.

So like I said yesterday, this team's mental toughness is insane. They don't make excuses, they find ways to win. While Ime Udoka and his players were crying all night while getting their asses whooped, Joe Mazzulla showed you exactly why this is a championship team. There was no crying or excuse making. Just execution. They found ways to win, even with a HEAVY talent disadvantage on short rest on the road against a Western Conference contender. 

As we know, the Hospital Celtics are one of the most dominant basketball forces on the planet. It really is remarkable, but their success shouldn't be that surprising when you consider how solid the development and culture is within the Celtics organization. It starts at the top. The coaching, the player buy in, none of it is an accident.

In fact, the Celtics now improve to an insane 36-13 on the second night of a B2B under Joe Mazzulla. As you can imagine, that's the best record in the NBA with a 4 year sample size. 

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And while there have been a lot of great wins so far this season, I don't see how anyone could argue that what we saw last night was on the shortlist of one of the best wins of the entire season. How many teams do you see with $120M on the bench, in addition to one of their best shooters, a removal of their 6th man and best scorers, and still see that team go into a Western Conference contenders house and blow them the fuck out? 

I'll answer for you. Not very often, if ever. 

Yet, that's exactly what the Hospital Celtics did. Let's begin.

The Good

- Perhaps it's cope, perhaps it's a bit of a mental illness or delusion, but I do not care one bit how badly Derrick White may be shooting at any given moment in time, I know deep in my bones that when I need Derrick White, Derrick White will be there for me. Could be a huge game, could be a huge moment within a game, I just know that when this team needs Derrick White, he delivers.

Last night, they desperately needed Derrick White. No more of this inability to hit a jumper bullshit. He now slid into the #1 option role, and the role of a #1 option in a game like last night is to make sure you show up and do you part to carry your team to a win. It's not an easy job, which is why there aren't a lot of #1s in the NBA. For the Celts to have any shot at winning this game, they needed Derrick White to be that guy.

Now, please enjoy watching Derrick White being that guy

Like I said, when I need Derrick White, Derrick White comes through.

The efficiency was solid given the team he was playing and the players he was surrounded with, especially from deep, and it was White's explosion in the 3rd quarter (14 points on 5-12, 4-7) that pretty much ended this game. This was only a 7 point lead at the break, but with White's performance in the 3rd the lead ballooned to 26, and that was that.

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I can only imagine how good it felt to see the ball finally go in after his well documented shooting struggles recently, and it's partially why I never ever want Derrick White to stop shooting. You sometimes see people be mad when he continues to take threes and whatnot despite his struggles, and this is why. Believe in what we've seen for years now. Derrick can shoot, and as long as he remains aggressive, his struggles won't last forever. 

Add in the fact that White also finished with 8 AST and only 2 TOs, and it was exactly the all around performance the Celts needed in a game like this. I'm actually a little surprised he didn't secure a block, but other than that, it was perfect. The only chance the Celts had in this game was if Derrick went nuclear, and who knows, perhaps this could be the game that helps snap him out of his shooting funk. You see, it is possible for Derrick to be incredible on defense AND make his open looks. At the end of the day, that's all we're really asking for.

- There is this weird narrative around Payton Pritchard that he never plays well against good teams. It's not true, but for whatever reason that's something that's put on him. Has he had a stinker here and there against elite teams? Sure. So has every player in the NBA. But he's also had plenty of awesome performances against good teams, so I never really understood this take. For whatever reason, people are weird about Payton Pritchard. Why, I couldn't tell you.

In reality, let's check in on how he did against another elite team, this one with great perimeter defense and length

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Last time I checked, the 31-18 Rockets with KD are a good team right? A team that was 17-4 at home heading into this game is what you could call good, right? A team with the 2nd best point differential in the West is one you would consider good, right?

Well then you have to excuse me, I'm a little confused. I've been told repeatedly that Payton Pritchard never shows up or performs well against good teams, so this is a bit awkward. 

Is it possible that's all bullshit, and people are just weird about Pritchard for some reason? I'd say that's becoming clearer by the day.

I also would push back on the idea that Pritchard is only doing this because he slid back to the bench role. As I said after his big night against the Mavs, this is what Pritchard has been doing ALL SEASON. As a starter, as a bench player, it's all the same. Why? Because Payton Pritchard is really fucking good at basketball. I find it bizarre that there continues to be a push to deny this fact. I'm not sure what else he has to show. The proof is in the production.

Just like with White, the Celts couldn't afford a Pritchard no-show in this game. They needed him to slide up a spot into the #2 scoring role, which I'd say he did perfectly. In addition to his 20 points and 5 3PM, he also finished with 7 AST and just 1 TO. As we know, this team goes as the guard play goes, so how did it do?

55 points / 15 AST / 3 TOs / 11 3PM

Against that defense? With no Jaylen on the floor to help take some of the defensive attention? That, my friends, is big time guard play.

They were both solid in the first half (24 combined points), White took over the 3rd, and Pritchard took over the 4th. It was exactly how one would draw it up if they were putting together a path to victory in this game. Shoutout both of these guys, they were fantastic.

- We've seen it with Luke Kornet, we 've seen it with Sam Hauser, we've seen it with Neemias Queta, the list goes on and on. When it comes to internal development of the Maine Celtics, we're seeing it be an actual pipeline of talent for the real club.

Up next in this process? Ron Harper Jr.

Making his first career start, it's hard to keep your brain from going to dangerous places when it comes to Ron Harper Jr's potential moving forward. He was insane

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In total, 11/9/3 and a +16 in his minutes, while also having an insane impact defensively. This was yet another example of a player getting an opportunity and then thriving in it. That's been the main storyline of this entire season for every bench player on the roster. Whenever Joe decides this is your chance, not a single one has fumbled their opportunity. It's fucking insane. 

It again goes back to the culture and the development program of this organization. Maine and Boston work seamlessly together, and it's no surprise that's the first thing Joe mentioned postgame

When you watched Harper Jr play against this level of competition, the first thing you see is a guy who looks like a real NBA player. That's always what I look for first when it comes to these young guys. Do you look like you belong on the floor in the NBA?

The answer for Ron Harper Jr is absofuckinglutely. 

To come in, make 3s the way he did, rebound the way he did, and be so good at staying attached to KD and making his life hell, I'd say the sky is the limit for what Harper Jr could grow into as an NBA player. At the very least, I want to see more. Brad Stevens hasn't missed a day in his life, so why should we expect this to be any different? I'm not saying he needs to start or anything crazy like that, but I do think it's fair to suggest that the Celts may have yet another wing piece at their disposal. He's certainly not afraid of the moment which I would argue is half the battle. 

Again, this all points back to the coaching job of Joe Mazzulla. Nobody and I mean nobody gets the most out of his players than Joe. 

- Need another example? How about the frontcourt play? For the first time all season we got a Queta/Garza double big lineup to combat the Rockets' size. How'd that go?

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Queta/Garza severly outplaying both Jabari Smith/Sengun is certainly not what Rockets fans expected to happen, but I can't say I'm all that surprised. Garza and Queta have been doing this shit on the regular. As a team, the Celts outrebounded one of the best rebounding teams in the NBA 57-38, and a lot of that was because of the work both Garza/Queta was able to do on the glass. 

Add in Neemy's 5 blocks and Garza making a couple 3PMs, and two minimum centers were the best bigs on the floor all night. Just think about that! The Rockets pay Smith/Sengun max money, only to get worked by a couple minimum players on their home floor. WOOF.

This is also why I'm not worried at all about Vuc sliding in. Look at what this team has done with the growth of both of these players! You don't think Joe can get Vuc's defense to a passable level? Of course he can, and you also get elite offense/shooting to go with it.

- I don't ever want to hear Ime Udoka in Joe Mazzulla conversations ever again. It was stupid 3 years ago, and it's stupid now. Joe is now 4-1 against Ime in his career, and last night was a coaching masterclass. Ime had no answers on either end and couldn't take his beating like a man, and instead got tossed early. Very sad!

Offensively, the Rockets showed nothing, which isn't surprising given Ime's limitations. Defensively, Joe solved whatever the Rockets threw at the Celts with ease. Sure, it's cool that Ime plays the tough guy card and all that, but he got exposed. Just like he had in the majority of his matchups against Mazzulla. 

- Shoutout Baylor Scheierman for his 15/10/4 in only 23 minutes. He's another guy who, whenever Joe has given him an opportunity, he's made the most of it. His defense was solid, the rebounding was great, he made some big momentum 3s when they presented themselves, and what I love about Baylor is a lot of his production is simply the result of playing hard.

I think that's why what we're seeing from the role players feels so sustainable. It's all rooted in their effort. They are willing to make the plays and effort when other guys aren't. That will even out in the playoffs, but in the regular season? You're seeing what a difference that can make.

- 20 OREB and 19 3PM is pretty fucking ridiculous. You're not going to lose too many games when you're that dominant in those two areas, and against an elite defense and rebounding team? Very impressive. A bit of a cold start, but once things got rolling the Celts never looked back. When they miss, the way they crash the offensive glass allows those possessions to still end up with a positive result. Again, that's just effort.

The Bad

- As expected with the depature of Simons and Vuc not being on the team yet, it's no surprise that outside of Pritchard, the entire bench group made 1 basket. Between Walsh, Minott, Hugo, Tillman etc, the "others" finished 1-10 from the floor. 

I will say that even with Pritchard sliding down, I am a bit nervous about the depth shooting. We'll see what else may happen at the deadline, but it's just something to monitor. There really isn't a proven and consistent shooter available if you assume Hauser continues to start. Will that matter in a playoff series with a shortened rotation? Maybe, maybe not. But maybe if Baylor slides back down that'll be enough.

- Only the Celtics could have a play where one of their players gets thrown to the ground, yet it's the Celtic who is called for the flagrant. That play with DWhite was bizarre, yet not surprising. 

- I think we're seeing why Minott may not be getting run. I know he's working his way back….but yikes. I definitely don't trust him whenever he puts the ball on the floor, and I can't say he showed anything in his 7 minutes that tell you he should be seeing the floor more. Crazy development given how he started the year, but there will be ups and downs I suppose. 

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The Ugly

- I dunno, it's hard for me to really put anything here given the caliber of win this was. Their TOs were low, their shooting came back, the defense was elite, it really was a game without too many complaints.

And now comes the part where the Celts will be challenged to keep this momentum going. This win was great, but you have to keep building on it. They now return home for a little homestand, including a big showdown with the Knicks this weekend. It's crucial this team does not take a step back and just ride the high of this win. Continue to build on it and use it as a stepping stone to reach even higher levels. That's what this team has done all year, so I have no doubt that's what will happen.